Page 66 of Royal Captive
Gratefully, I snuggled into his warmth, so pathetically happy for any heat. I hated this fae realm. I hated thefae—Well, that wasn’t true. I didn’t hate Ellis. I didn’t hate Shyllon, even though he hadn’t stopped this from happening. I didn’t even hate Alihandro.
Or Peri.
I must have drifted asleep against Ellis, because the next thing I knew, a loud bang jolted me, Ellis’s arms coming around and gripping my shoulders automatically.
“Up and at ‘em.” A man unlatched the cage door, sending it crashing against the ground. I stood slowly, trying to stretch out my cramped muscles. How long had I been out? Dawn was sneaking above the horizon, but I felt like I’d barely slept. Atleast the air was warming up as the golden rays of the sun peeked over the horizon, and I still had on my warm dress from Shyllon.
“Out.”
I barely spared a glance for the human in front of me as I descended the ramp, Ellis right on my heels.
“Right. You won’t be a problem, will you?”
I glanced up at the man, his gruff nature and flaming red hair reminding me so much of Ferar that I almost stumbled. He gestured surreptitiously to the fae guards stationed around the perimeter of the ugliest building I’d seen since coming here to the fae realm. It was flat and squat, painted a sickly white and gray color that reminded me of dirty dishwater.
One story high but spread out for at least a mile, the complex didn’t have any fences or moats or anything else to keep its occupants inside. Then again, I bet they used magick. An image of the fae who’d chosen to burn himself to death rather than compete in the Royal Hunt filled my mind.
Magick, indeed.
“No, no problems,” I assured the man vaguely, following behind him as the fae guards watched us through narrowed eyes. These guards wore silver armor with a violet shimmer, and thin bands of matching material that wove through their hair and around the crown of their heads like a headband. What protection did that give?
“Keeps the fae prisoners from using magick on them. The king’s elite guards have them as well,” Ellis whispered in my ear, nearly giving me a heart attack.
I nodded, my hand sneaking down to entwine in his. He stiffened for a moment, then grasped it tightly.
“I don’t know who you pissed off, but no sense putting it off,” our human deliverer commented dryly, grinning at Ellis with a particular viciousness.
The bandage Shyllon had put on my neck was hanging on for dear life, so I ripped it off and shoved the scrap of fabric down my chest.
The man’s eyes followed my movement greedily until it saw the wound on my neck. His eyes widened, and he blinked a few times.
“The king sent us,” Ellis bit out, drawing the man’s attention back to him.
The man huffed. “Yeah, that would do it. Follow me.”
He shot me another quizzical look, then led us between the fae guards and into the prison.
Twenty-Two
ELLIS
I’d done it. I’d reunited with Eve, but at what cost? It had taken days of begging on my knees to that bastard king, telling him all I knew regarding the fae descendants back in the human realm, and promising everything I didn’t have. And yet no matter how much he’d threatened me, I had held back telling him the one detail of my dreams that would be the final nail in Eve’s coffin.
Now that I’d been reunited with her, we would find a way to escape this manor, and get home somehow. We’d wait until nightfall and sneak outside into the woods, and then …
My plotting faded as Eve’s hand tightened around mine. I blinked furiously, the fae guards in my mind dissolving into the fae guards of the prison who stood before me. The armor and the superior smirks were the same, at least.
They led us down a stone hallway. There were no lights or torches, just a long hallway with individual cells on either side. Some were empty, some had a fae or a human; some had several fae or a mix of species. A green-skinned fae leaned out throughthe iron bars of his cage, eyes narrowed at Eve. I growled at him and he spat in my face.
A guard snarled at the prisoner and the fae fell back as if seized by an invisible force. He fell to the ground, twitching.
None of the other prisoners dared to glance at Eve after that.
“In.” The human unlocked the large iron cage with an equally large iron key, pointing at me then inside. Seeing no alternative, I went inside.
The door slammed shut behind me.
“Wait! No! Eve—”
